


Furrowfield's Tree

by outerealm



Category: Dragon Quest Builders (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Light Rosie/Pastor Al, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 19:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20087692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outerealm/pseuds/outerealm
Summary: AU/Major SpoilersPastor Al survives Brainy Baboon's attack on the Deitree.Mostly light fluff.





	Furrowfield's Tree

Pastor Al woke up. That was a surprise he wasn’t expecting. Last thing he could remember was Brainy Baboon slamming his fist on top of him and then- darkness. No, not quite. He could remember saying something to Rosie- wait, Rosie!

He lifted an arm slowly- he was a weak one among the monsters. His body had never been able to withstand the same amount of abuse that any of the others could. Especially creatures like Metal Slimes, though few could hold a candle to their toughness. No, no, no, he was letting his mind wander away. He needed to find Rosie. She had looked so panicked as he was fading out, and she looked slightly injured. Was she okay? Had the Brainy Baboon imprisoned him? Or had-

“Pastor Al!” He struggled to turn in the direction of Rosie’s shocked voice. “Pastor Al! You finally woke up! Thank Goodness! You had us all so worried for awhile there! Wait- Don’t move any! You’re still way too injured!”

Rosie’s hands pressed against his chest, lightly, but still painfully enough to make him fall back. There was still relief there however, a deep seated relief that made him fall back with a smile. Not that the humans could see it.

Blue hair fell into view and bright eyes behind thick glasses peered at him. “Oh Pastor Al, I’m so glad you’re awake! I was getting afraid you’d never wake up! Oh, but you should rest for now. You’re still pretty badly hurt after all.”

“Rosie.” He was surprised at just how croaking and weak his voice was. “Is- every…one…”

“Everyone’s doing just fine. No one’s dead yet, not even you! That was the closest call of them all, Pastor Al.” Her eyes began to fill with tears as she spoke, but she brushed them away impatiently. “So you just rest for now okay?”

Pastor Al nodded slowly. He couldn’t fight the darkness sweeping him off his feet, at least not well. But Rosie and the rest of them were safe. 

Everyone was safe.

\-------------------

The next time Pastor Al woke up, it was to a beautiful, gentle wind blowing across his face. He had never felt such a beautiful wind blowing, it breathed life into his very soul. If monsters had souls that is. But- He wanted to see where it was from.

Tiredly, he pushed himself up. It hurt to move, still. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious. He could hear the pitter-patter of rain against the wooden roofing, that the Builder had quite happily spent hours pounding away at. But it was odd- normally when rain fell, it fell with wet little splochs and splorches from the slimy, disgusting spoiled earth. This time it was softer- like the rain that fell against the home ground’s grass. Just- it felt like it stretched out further.

He wanted to see outside. He could feel the tingling of a power he’d never felt before his entire life. A power similar to the crumbled, broken, absolutely destroyed Deitree, but deeper. Fuller- it was hard to put it into words the feelings he had. It was nothing he’d ever felt before, not even once. No, he’d felt inklings of it before, when he’d been studying the previous builder.

The written memoir of The Builder had caught his eye from the moment he’d seen it. A tattered, hand written book filled with a single humans creativity. Hellen, his teacher, had always scolded him about his fascination with building and growing. He had never, not once, told her about his own sorry attempts to build himself a farm. He’d told her about the village, and it’s farm, emboldened by Rosie’s gentle urging. Hellen had scolded him as expected, but he hadn’t minded it.

Hellen was doing what she knew best, and so was he. 

Al wanted to become a builder. It had always been there, growing in his heart, since the very first time he’d come to Furrowfield. Growing crops, the ruined Deitree- it had all built into a overwhelming statement. 

And now, now, Pastor Al could feel the power he’d always desired just a few short steps away.

He stumbled on the hem of his robes, nearly toppling over. A stack of firewood caught him, rather unforgivingly. He could hear the bright cheery voices of his… flock? Co-builders?... Friends? Outside. He wanted to join them. The wooden built house was homely enough for the humans, but a bit uncomfortable for him. It was brightly lit instead of dark and dreary. 

Pastor Al wanted to be with them, hear their senseless, useless chatter as they worked the fields. 

Pastor Al pushed open the door and felt his breath, as much as he had one, be stolen away.

A tree, smaller, yet far statelier then the Ruined Deitree twined up towards the sky. The wind blew, rustling the leaves in the giant tree, bringing with it a gentle scent of all growing things. Flowers bloomed in the ground, the beautiful scent filling his nose, and ready to set off a coughing attack on his delicate lungs. 

The tree was gorgeous. He could sit here in the doorway, listening to the rain patter against the lush, green grass and watching the leaves wave in the wind for forever. It was more then he could ever even begin to dream of and yet- something was missing. He could hear his friends chattering in the distance as they fetched themselves a mid-day meal, but there was a single voice missing.

“Pastor Al! You’re up!”

Pastor Al’s heart eased at the bright, familiar voice. Rosie looked so surprised and happy as she dropped her plate of bread and cooked cabbage. She threw her arms up in celebration. “Pastor Al! Just look! Just like you told us, we rebuilt the Deitree!”

Pastor Al chuckled softly, “I do believe I can see that for myself. You’d best pick up your food before it becomes food for something else.” 

“Never mind that! We got enough food to last us days! Oh, but I suppose you’d like some food, wouldn’t you?”

“Something sweet, if you wouldn’t mind.” He certainly wouldn’t turn down Rosie’s offer of help. Not when it took so much energy to just stand. 

“You just wait right there Pastor Al! I’ll go run and get us a meal!” Rosie rushed off into the steadily growing rain. Her ruined food was swept away by the wind, vanishing from sight. Pastor Al remained in the doorway, watching the rain drip off the roof.

Rosie came back, pitifully attempting to shield the food with her body. She grinned brightly as she passed over the sugar balls. “Here you go Pastor Al!”

“Thank you Rosie.” He said tiredly, but lingered in the doorway, loathe to go back inside and miss out on the sight of the Deitree. 

“It’s here to stay Pastor Al.” Rosie said calmly, not minding the water running down her hair. “The Brainy Baboon won’t bother anyone ever again.”

“I believe you. It’s just-“

Rosie giggled softly, “You’re right Pastor Al. We got an eating place out in the open so we can stare at it all day ourselves when we get in the mood to do so. It’s only fair you get to stare and eat too. Just let me in, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Pastor Al shuffled to the side. Rosie squeezed past him, with a variety of food in her arms. She seemed rather determined to eat her fill today. Pastor Al sank onto the wooden flooring and closed his eyes to listen to the pouring rain. “Pastor Al, you should at least eat your food if you can.”

Rosie’s eyes were bright and sharp as she stared directly at him. Obediently he lifted the food to his mask, and started munching on it.

“Rosie, how did I survive? I’m pretty sure I was close to death there.”

“Thank the two Builders! Y’know when those two and Malroth fought the Ork King and came back all battered up? Apparently what they found was a Yggdsrail Leaf! Something that can bring back dead humans if applied quickly enough, but for monsters it only just barely kept you from death.”

Such a leaf would be worth it’s weight in gold. Pastor Al was stunned- The Builders- had they really spent such a precious leaf on his life? “Did they really? Such leaves are rare and hard to get a hold of even by Monsters.”

He almost felt bad for the three. He didn’t want them to waste their hard-earned prizes. And yet, he was touched. Touched by the kindness they had shown him.

The rain poured down even harder, drowning out what Rosie was saying next. “Sorry, what was that?” he asked curiously.

Rosie set her food to the side and leaned against the doorframe. With him sitting down, she was taller then him. She watched the rain pouring down between the leaves and branches of the Deitree, collecting at the moat. He’d never seen such clean, pure water on the isle before.

There were a number of things, he’d never seen before.

The flowers. The water. The tree. Rosie’s face lit up like a miniature sun as she stared up at the cleansing rain. 

He forced himself to look away, not certain of why his chest constricted. He could see Perry and Bonanzo wandering out among the rain casually, not minding the heavy downpour as they carried freshly harvested crops in their arms. They disappeared into the barn with the crops, probably to go sort them.

Al contemplatively chewed on his food.

For some reason, the hows and whys were fading. Just a little bit. Enough to make his mind stop running at a thousand miles a minute, and simply watch the rain come down.

Rosie and Al watched the rain, as day turned to dusk, and the clouds began to clear up. The first starting of stars began to twinkle overhead. And, in the distance, Pastor Al could hear the cheery voice of Malroth laughing as he hauled his two charges home.

“Rosie, would you please give me my staff? I’d like to go and meet them.”

His staff was tucked snuggly into his arms, and Rosie got down on one knee. “You shouldn’t be walking Pastor Al.”

“Perhaps not, but I would like to greet them to thank them for all they did.”

“M’kay, leave it to me!”

Leave what-

Pastor Al made a noise rather unbecoming for a monster. It was a lot like a Ratty Rat’s squeak, but much more strangled. It happened though, when a human he had always thought of as frail and delicate could lift him like he weighed nothing.

“You weigh less then a bucket of water, did you know that Pastor Al?”

“I demand you put me down this instant!” Pastor Al sputtered out in response. He couldn’t believe that he was being swept off his feet by a mere human woman! “I am not to be treated this way!”

“C’mon Pastor Al, you wanted to meet with them, and you even admitted you shouldn’t be walking!” She strode quickly, though the town was small. Pastor Al covered his face, embarrassed from the bottom of his heart as Perry waved cheerfully from the Tomato fields. Why would she do this to him? Was she secretly a monster? Had he rubbed off on her more then he had expected? Was she secretly planning on finishing him off through his own desire to disappear into the ground?

“Ah, there we go! The Irrigation station! We can sit you down along the edge and you’ll be alright Pastor Al!”

He kept silent, wishing from the bottom of his heart that Malroth and his two builder friends hadn’t seen his unglamorous carry to the edge of the town. “There we go! Too bad we didn’t plant the tomatoes over here, you’d about disappear among them with your bright red head after all.”

He… was actually rather touched by that statement. “Red as a tomato huh?”

“That’s right!” Rosie gently put him down, and waved at the two Builders rushing their way over. Malroth picked up the speed as well.

All three of them looked well. Better then well actually. They were positively glowing with energy. Pastor Al leaned against his staff, watching, as the two builders came rushing up. “Pastor Al! You’re up!” It was the girl who spoke first, shoving her brother out of the way to stare at him with bright, shining eyes. 

“That’s correct. I do hope you wouldn’t mind telling me about what happened while I was out?”

“Heh heh! Leave it to us Pastor Al! But first-“ The boy glanced around, eyes bright, “Let’s set up a little eating area right here! So we can eat under the tree!”

Malroth scoffed at the statement, and began to wander off.

“Won’t you stay with us and tell me of what happened young Malroth?”

“Tch. Fine.”

It was truly an amazing story, filled with all kinds of miracles. A secret pact, everyone coming together to help build the Deitree, the flowers of power, The pure water hidden beneath the surface of a grimy swamp, Brainy Baboon being brought low by his own hubris- It was an amazing rush to the end, that Pastor Al wish he could’ve seen. 

But this was good enough. The torches flickered and flared, flames dancing merrily beneath the star studded sky. Everything was calm, and so very, very peaceful. This was what Helen had taught him to abhor and hate the most. This peace, this gentleness, this beautiful, wonderful feeling of contentedness that came from looking at something he had helped to build up. He hadn’t done much, but he was still a part of this town. 

From the way Bonanzo cheerfully dropped a plate full of geenery and bread on his plate, to Perry timidly sliding a mug full of crystal clear water over, even Clayton, making sure he dropped by with a few raw veggies just in case. They didn’t say it out loud, but from how many humans had dropped by- he was part of this town. 

Wiggly popped out of the earth as the Humans went to bed, one by one, leaving him at his seat. Rosie was the only human left, and even she was sleeping. Her arms pillowed her head as she leaned against the top of the table.

“Good ta see ya up Pastor!” Wiggly chirrped, curling her long body up into spiral. “Ya feeling right peachy keen?”

“Yes, feeling much better thank you.”

He didn’t need to sleep.

No, that wasn’t fair, he could sleep, he just hated doing so. 

“Best wake up young Rosie here and have her carry you off ta bed then! She wa’ the most worried of us all ya know! She barely slept at all.”

A pang hit his heart at that. He could imagine her doing so, farming by day and hovering anxiously around him at night. She’d always been prepared for their nightly lessons on farming, though she’d fall asleep long before Al was tired. But that was just the way humans were.

And yet-

Pastor Al rested his hand on Rosie’s head, careful not to wake her. “Let her rest for the night. She deserves that. They all do. I’m quite happy right where I’m at for the night.”

This was a night he would burn in his heart until the end of time. Humans and Monsters had such different life spans- they’d all be gone in a fraction of his lifetime. Forgotten eventually, just as the original humans that had helped the original builder to establish Furrowfield. Except- Al promised himself he’d never forget.

Especially this young human sleeping before him that had convinced her companions to trust in him. She was… special to him, in many ways. Ways he wasn’t certain about, but he’d certainly like to talk to her about inbetween their late night talks of how to grow crops.

Tomorrow. He had tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. He had time to discover. So for now, resting was good enough.


End file.
